


Mockingbird

by tirsynni



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Dark, Ficlet, Gen, season 3b
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-04
Updated: 2014-02-04
Packaged: 2018-01-11 03:32:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 585
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1168155
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tirsynni/pseuds/tirsynni
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Stiles knew he was dreaming, but it didn't make a difference.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Mockingbird

“Hush, little baby, don’t say a word…”

Even after all these years, Stiles still recognized his mother’s lullabies. She never remembered the traditional songs and sang Pink Floyd more often than not. The only one she ever remembered was the mockingbird lullaby, and she tended to mess up those lyrics, too.

She always had the first part right, though.

“Mom?” Stiles whispered and opened his eyes.

“Mama’s gonna buy you a mockingbird.”

Low and husky, her voice always sounded like a smoker’s. They didn’t realize until too late that it was a symptom. Stiles only knew it gave her a beautiful singing voice.

“If that mockingbird don’t sing,” and Stiles pushed himself up on his bed and looked around his dark bedroom, “Mama’s gonna buy you a diamond ring.”

Nowadays, Stiles could never tell if he was dreaming or not. This was the only time he knew for sure he was dreaming.

“And if that diamond ring turns black,” drifted from the closet, door open and tempting, “Mama’s gonna buy you a shiny knick knack.”

Stiles bit back a sob and stumbled out of bed. It was a dream but he didn’t give a damn.

“Don’t,” Lydia pleaded behind him, on his bed like she had always been there, like there was nowhere else she could possibly be. “Don’t go, Stiles, please!”

“And if that knick knack gets broke…”

Cancer of the larynx, Stiles discovered later, when the doctors told his father they would do everything they could. His own studying showed that the larynx did more than make sound for people to speak: it allowed for swallowing.

For breathing.

“Mama’s gonna buy you a baby wolf.”

Stiles felt like he had done all of this before but it didn’t stop him from walking toward the closet door. Inside, the darkness seemed to stretch on and on.

“Stiles, please!”

Now it wasn’t Lydia. Now it sounded like Derek, voice soft and broken.

“And if that wolf won’t howl…”

By the end of it, only the rasp in his mother’s throat remained. She died while he could only watch, and not even the crack in Derek’s voice could convince him to turn around.

“Mama’s gonna buy you a tawny owl.”

Stiles stepped forward, and it was like all the light behind him was swallowed. Only the voices remained.

“Stiles, don’t do it!”

“And if that owl won’t fly…”

Her voice had sounded so sweet, and Stiles hated himself for loving it when it was the sound of her dying.

“You’ll always be my darling little guy.”

Stiles felt a feeling of déjà vu when he walked through the doorway.

He felt nothing when he closed the door behind him.

Claudia Stilinski stood before the Nematon with open arms, her smile the most beautiful thing Stiles had ever seen. It shone, the lone light in the forest. “My baby.”

“Mom…” When she wrapped her arms around him, they were the only two in the entire world.

Stiles woke the next morning humming to himself and singing the occasional lyric. For once, no terror sweat soaked his sheets. The face which reflected in the mirror was calm, relaxed. His father greeted him with a smile and a relieved hug. Stiles grinned and sang quietly under his breath.

“What are you singing, anyway?”

“Dunno. Woke up with it in my head.”

“Okay, just no singing on tables in school today, all right? …I love you.”

“Love you, too.”

_“And if those dogs won’t play, Mama’s gonna make them pay.”_


End file.
